


The Grim Reaper’s given you a second chance. Don’t fuck it up. [Discontinued]

by Xaphrr



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, half life but the ai is self aware
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coomer is everyone’s dad, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Sickfic, Slow Burn, domestic AU, injuries, kinda a sickfic at one point, yeah it’s a sickfic at one point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27255586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xaphrr/pseuds/Xaphrr
Summary: Another very self indulgent fic. I’ve got a WHOLE lotta ideas for this one!I made this because I see a lot of post-canon hlvrai fics with the whole domestic AU vibe, but, I don’t ever see just how benry comes back from death. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands!More Tags will Be added later, I just wanna get this out there.
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	The Grim Reaper’s given you a second chance. Don’t fuck it up. [Discontinued]

**Author's Note:**

> I realized I accidentally made it a one shot, so I fixed it!!

The last thing benry could remember? Oh, What could he remember that was pleasant? Nothing. Nothing was pleasant about what he’d done, and now he paid the price.

He betrayed the man he was in love with. Gordon Freeman was his name. Yes, at first he used his feelings as fuel for a long-running joke, but, it became apparent that he did, deep down, he did genuinely love Gordon. Not only that, he tried to kill not only Gordon, but all of his friends- no- his family. He didn’t know what caused him to do it, maybe the return to Xen? But he did it. 

When they had all beaten him, and had left to go to Tommy’s birthday party, his limp, deformed body fell to the ground. The last thing he felt was the cold water as he bled out. 

And now? He was dead. Floating in a pond of stone-cold hatred and regret, his senses dulled. He was alone in the vast void of the universe. He couldn’t see, only darkness greeted him when he opened up his eyes, and even that was a challenge. He truly did deserve this. 

He closed his eyes, forgetting how long he’d been there. Yet, as he wallowed... he suddenly felt something. The icy and soft texture of something that he remembered feeling in the freezer rooms, and rod-like objects poking into his sides. He could move, something he couldn’t do for who-knows how long, and he felt a Stoney texture beneath one of his hands. He let his eyes flutter open as he sat up; seeing not the harsh scenery of a lab, but a pine forest blanketed in white, tray sticks gently poking into his sides. He had recognized scenes like this, they were in the video games he used to play, but he never thought he’d see it in person. 

He stood up, snow crunching beneath his leather and steel boots. God, there was snow on the ground, how long was he gone? He looked himself up and down, he was in a slightly better condition then when he was in Xen, but then again, he never really got a good look at himself before he perished. He could see his breathes, cloudy and round, like the sweet voice bubbles he was oh-so used to using. He imagined that it would probably come in handy right about now. 

He looked at his left arm, a large gaping wound adorned it. Focusing, he sang; A teal to green beam of bubbles shot out and healed his arm, yet, it didn’t last for long. About a minute after healing himself, he found that no more sweet voice would come out. It was probably that he wasn’t as used to using anymore like he thought, he assumed. 

He looked around, holding one of the areas of his skin that was still heavily bleeding out, there wasn’t anyone in sight. He saw a cleared dirt path, but that was about it. It was his only hope of finding people, as he felt that if he didn’t, he’d die again, so he limped over to it. The dirt was a rich brown, contrasted with the blue-ish white. It was sprinkled with shiny frozen stones, and sticks that were buried beneath that only barely saw the surface anymore. 

He felt that one of his legs barely worked anymore, so limping was probably his fastest option. Though, walking would probably be faster, even if it did hurt more. It also probably would make him a bit warmer with more blood flow, as the snowflakes that fell on his skin and the cool winter air weren’t helping him one bit in that department.

God he was pathetic right now, even for his very low standards of patheticness. 

He “walked” for a long time, it felt longer than anything that he’d ever experienced, even longer than his time in the void. The sharp pain in his body was truly starting to sink in, and he was alone with himself. He had no one to annoy, and no one to protect aliens from. Despite how long the journey felt, it didn’t take him long to reach the edge of a city. He was lucky enough that it was all abandoned, so no one would be around to beat him up while he was down, or no one to judge him or call the police. 

He found an alleyway, and slumped down inside it. Hugging the wall for any glimpse of warmth. He needed a plan. He knew that no sane manager would hire a monster-like man covered in tattered clothes, wounds from head to toe, and his own blood and probably some alien gore.

But, he still needed a place to stay, with these new wounds and all. usually he had healed completely by now, he usually healed pretty quickly, so he had no clue what was going on. First he came back from the dead, then he could only use his sweet voice for a limited time, and now he wasn’t healing as fast.

He leaned his head back, focusing on the warm blood thickly seeping down his skin, falling through his fingers and dripping onto the cold concrete, slowly creating a puddle. 

He looked at his boots, scuffed and ragged. Yet, the snow seemed to wash away the muck, and he could see himself. A reality check, if you will. Yet, he didn’t see… “himself.” He saw the face of Benry whatever the fuck his last name was, he couldn’t remember anymore, he saw the shadowed eyes, the pale skin, short curly black hairs peeking out of the dented and cracked helmet, but it wasn’t benry anymore. He wasn’t benry, no. Benry didn’t have sharp teeth, or glowing yellow eyes, or beast-like claws or supernatural powers that defied the laws of mortality. 

He leaned his head back again, shutting his eyes and accidentally drifted off to sleep. God, if that wasn’t the best nap benry has had in awhile, he didn’t know what was. He dreamt of nothing, but it was a peaceful nothingness.

When he woke up, it was sunrise. His fingers and nose felt like ice, as he struggled to get up. He felt like he was shedding a thin layer of ice that grew on him as he slept. He already went over on how he needed a plan, and getting a job was out of the picture so… what now?

Well, he could try to find the science team, and ask them for help, but, they probably wouldn’t let him back into their life. So, no job and no science team. What now?

Well, benry didn’t know that much about the world outside of black Mesa, Xen, and whatever he played in video games, so all he could think of is to live on the streets. Not ideal, but, he guessed he could live with it. He didn’t really know how people lived without a house, so he just wandered around until he found something that seemed useful. Which was a lot harder than it sounded. 

He looked through everything, you name it, he looked through it. Dumpsters, underneath street tiles, alleyways, in rooftops ventilation systems, everywhere! He only found a few things, but, nothing really seemed to be of use. 

He went to stop in an alleyway for the night, before hearing a scratchy sound from inside a cardboard box next to him

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, it was a whole lotta fun to make and I’m really proud of it so far!


End file.
